Coward VW Golf driver fled high-speed Leeds smash that left woman with life-threatening brain bleed
A driver of a powerful VW Golf smashed into a car waiting at lights, then ran away as the female victim was left in a life-threatening condition.
The woman suffered a serious bleed to the brain after being hit by Matthew Sheils on a busy Leeds city centre street, while he was being pursued by police.
He then refused to take a breath test when officers caught up with him.
Leeds Crown Court heard that Sheils has a long list of driving convictions, and has not had a licence since 2008.
He was jailed this week after admitting causing serious injury through dangerous driving, driving while banned and failing to provide a specimen for analysis.
Police pulled over the white Golf R on Oxford Place, Leeds city centre, at around 7.15pm on May 5 last year.
It stopped, but when the officer got out and approached the car, Sheils put his foot down and drove off at speed, heading straight through a red light and towards Woodhouse Lane.
Reaching the junction of Portland Way, next to the Leeds Beckett Students’ Union, he collided with the stationary Audi TT waiting at lights. He hit it at such force it knocked down a traffic light pole.
The sickening CCTV footage of the crash was played to the court. It then showed cowardly Sheils getting out and running.
Cameras then picked up the 34-year-old heading into the Woodhouse Lane multi-storey car park.
The female driver of the Audi was taken to hospital by ambulance, with scans showing a dangerous bleed to the brain and bruising to her lungs.
Prosecutor Aimilia Katsoulakis said the bleed could have proved fatal.
Sheils was arrested at his mother’s address the next day when he refused to provide a sample for analysis.
He gave a no-comment interview initially, but during a second interview months later claimed he had been attacked that day while attending the Mint Festival so drove his friend’s car.
He said he panicked drove from off from police, and was “truly sorry”.
The court learned that Sheils, of Ingwood Parade, Elland, Halifax, had previously been jailed for driving offences, and had multiple convictions for driving while banned and dangerous driving.
Mitigating, Amy Levitt said Sheils had been stabbed multiple times in an assault in June 2023 that left him in intensive care.
She said he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result, which was triggered in May last year after being assaulted at the music festival.
She said he was in an “elevated state” when the police pulled him over. She said he “deeply regrets” his actions and was “hugely remorseful”.
She said he is a father of four who runs his own business that would go under if he were to be jailed.
Judge Geoffrey Marson KC told Sheils he has a “terrible record” and added: “There was absolutely no excuse for you driving that vehicle.
“You drove at grossly-excessive speed. You went through a red light and collided at speed.
“Your reaction was to run off with no concern to the condition of the driver.”
He jailed Sheils for 34 months.